


The Song Must Remain The Same

by Loremaiden



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Immortality, Prompt Fic, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-28
Updated: 2013-08-28
Packaged: 2017-12-24 21:17:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/944755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loremaiden/pseuds/Loremaiden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike Stamford plays his part once again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Song Must Remain The Same

**Author's Note:**

> Written in response to JWP #15 (Miles To Go Before We Sleep) on Watson's Woes.
> 
> Almost halfway there! Miles to go before we sleep! - Use however this inspires you.

No matter how many times the man sees it, it always gives his heart a bit of a twinge to watch the proud and strong army doctor be back at square one—injured, friendless and broke. But, like always, the man knows all will be well if he does what he's supposed to do. Time for Michael Stamford to play his part once more.

A mediocre cup of coffee in a park is a far cry from that hearty lunch at the Holborn oh so long ago, but he's had less appetizing reunions, and it still gets the ball rolling. He makes the Remarks and asks the Questions— _I barely recognized you_ (a lie), _I thought you were abroad getting shot at_ (at least there is no enteric fever this go-round), _couldn't Harry help you out_ (sobriety will never be a staple of the sibling), and so forth.

And then John asks The Fated Question. "Who would want me for a flatmate?"

Stamford smiles and gives The Response. And that, as they say, is that.

Hours later, after the consulting detective and the army doctor have finally met and gone off towards their destiny together, Stamford is alone in the lab at St. Bart's. He raises a silent toast with what's left of his Criterion coffee and lets out a contented sigh. Once again, his work is done. The Story will start once more for a new generation.

Not for the first time, he shudders to think what would happen to those two if he should cease to intervene, if he should ever decide to finally retire his role. The thought is a thoroughly depressing one. Their respective orbits are too far apart to collide without a gravitational force to guide them. They would be alone, fatally alone. Sherlock Holmes would get himself killed, while John Watson would slowly fade away until his light was extinguished.

The Story would end before it even began. And their deep abiding friendship is too good a story to just stand by and let it fade into oblivion.

No, Stamford's role is not done, and he will never abandon it. After all, "though the world explode, these two survive," and he has no intention of making a liar out of Vincent Starrett. It doesn't bother him that the two of them never remember him no matter how many times they repeat The Conversation throughout the centuries, or that his eternal position of The Mutual Acquaintance That Despite His Importance Is Never Mentioned Again is a rather thankless one.

He is the saving of their souls. This, and the continuance of this glorious tale is the promise he has chosen to keep.

"And miles to go before I sleep," he murmurs to himself as he takes out his phone and looks up the price of a plane ticket to Russia.

**Author's Note:**

> The final line is a reference to the upcoming 2013 Russian version of Sherlock Holmes.


End file.
